Advice on champagne

qaz said:
Champagnes flying under the radar

Tyson Stelzer’s The Champagne Guide Master Edition 2011-2019
besides 100 champagnes to try before you die,
  • Champagne’s Top Five Rock Solid Performers
  1. Bollinger
  2. Krug
  3. Billecart-Salmon
  4. Pol Roger
  5. Salon
  • Champagne’s Top Five Movers & Shakers
  1. Charles Heidsieck
  2. Deutz
  3. Jacquesson
  4. Louis Roederer
  5. Egly-Ouriet
Tyson Stelzer’s Australian Sparkling Report 2018
  • The sparkling wine of the year Over $50: House of Arras Grand Vintage 2007 Magnum
  • The blanc de blancs of the year: House of Arras Blanc de Blancs 2008
  • The sparkling rosé of the year: Bellebonne Natalie Fryar Vintage Rosé 2015
  • The sparkling red of the year: Seppelt Show Sparkling Limited Release Shiraz 2007
  • The prosecco of the year: Di Sciascio D’Sas King Valley Prosecco 2017
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Unfortunately Tyson is an absolute joke when it comes to his 'expertise' on Champagne. Cannot even qualify to be a finalist a the vin de champagne awards (winners include Huon Hooke, Bernadette o Shea and Paul boothby) and hes always trying to pass as an expert.

Last week he just came out with Charles Heidseick (actually a personal favourite of mine) as a "10/10" house, when it wasn't in the top five rock solid performers , and their NV has been an absolute star since 2011. Why the sudden promotion of CH? Well..an all expenses paid business class trip to Champagne courtesy of Mr Heidseick probably had something to do with it.
 
wineflyer said:
Unfortunately Tyson is an absolute joke when it comes to his 'expertise' on Champagne. Cannot even qualify to be a finalist a the vin de champagne awards (winners include Huon Hooke, Bernadette o Shea and Paul boothby) and hes always trying to pass as an expert.

Last week he just came out with Charles Heidseick (actually a personal favourite of mine) as a "10/10" house, when it wasn't in the top five rock solid performers , and their NV has been an absolute star since 2011. Why the sudden promotion of CH? Well..an all expenses paid business class trip to Champagne courtesy of Mr Heidseick probably had something to do with it.
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Oh dear, thanks for the insight.
 
wineflyer said:
Unfortunately Tyson is an absolute joke when it comes to his 'expertise' on Champagne. Cannot even qualify to be a finalist a the vin de champagne awards (winners include Huon Hooke, Bernadette o Shea and Paul boothby) and hes always trying to pass as an expert.

Last week he just came out with Charles Heidseick (actually a personal favourite of mine) as a "10/10" house, when it wasn't in the top five rock solid performers , and their NV has been an absolute star since 2011. Why the sudden promotion of CH? Well..an all expenses paid business class trip to Champagne courtesy of Mr Heidseick probably had something to do with it.
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I'm not sure how you can claim he is an absolute joke with the level of knowledge he has. I think you'll struggle to find too many people in Australia with greater knowledge than his on the subject (of course, other than yours it would seem). He's been banging on about CH for a long time too. I
 
Daver6 said:
I'm not sure how you can claim he is an absolute joke with the level of knowledge he has. I think you'll struggle to find too many people in Australia with greater knowledge than his on the subject (of course, other than yours it would seem). He's been banging on about CH for a long time too. I
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What I mean by a joke, is that his opinion can be bought. Like how he was doing work for the Australian sparkling producers and saying they are better than some of the best Champagne producers.
 
wineflyer said:
What I mean by a joke, is that his opinion can be bought. Like how he was doing work for the Australian sparkling producers and saying they are better than some of the best Champagne producers.
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He's probably not the only critic that this accusation can be levelled at (e.g. Halliday); I guess the only palate you can completely trust is your own.

Do you have some sort of inside knowledge about Steltzer?
 
I wouldnt call it insider information as everyone in the industry knows about it. Sorry to have offended any Tyson fans here.
Yes Halliday has his own agenda as well and your winery would need him as a 'consultant' on some things before some nice scores get written up

Every one has their own tastes and palate - this i completely agree with. Some critics my palate gets along with, some critics dont. Which is fine, as I choose to follow certain critics more than others. The problem with critics that are easily 'influenced', is that it resuluts in inconsistent reports
 
As posted in the Dan's thread, Wine Selectors have Charles Heidsieck for $58.18 and Billecart-Salmon $55.06, whilst Laurent-Perrier Grand Siécle is $157.50 at Smash Vino
 
qaz said:
Like the [post=1500960]$80 2014 Tyrrell's Vat 9 Shiraz[/post], this $215 Gosset 15 Ans de Cave Brut seems a (relative) bargain and (possible) must-buy which will/should sell-out fast :)

It would be interesting to compare with Gosset's usual prestige cuvée, Celebris, which has spent ten, rather than fifteen, years on lees (Langton's sells it for $240, Prince Wine Store had it for $175 during their annual champagne tasting last October)

The benchmark for late-disgorgement, and one of my favourite champagnes, is Bollinger RD, which is aged on less for at least eight years, often ten and sometimes twelve, and costs $300+ (cheapest to buy at David Jones via AmEx offers or Langton's with voucher)

In general, I prefer richer, more complex, barrel-fermented champagnes, such as Bollinger, Krug, Selosse and Gosset, whose [post=1493631]Grande Reserve was a wedding wine and remains a favourite house champagne[/post]

Along with Salon, these would/should be on the bucket list of any serious champagne connoisseur, being rare single/twin-vineyard wines:

Bollinger Vieilles Vignes Françaises
Krug Clos d’Ambonnay
Krug Clos Du Mesnil
Philipponnat Clos des Goisses

I'm half-way :)
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American Express offer: Spend $150+, get $50 back @ WineStar

Best buys for those with multiple cards are Philipponnat Clos de Goisses 1992/1998/1999 - normally $299.99 and much cheaper than more recent vintages elsewhere

Also two more for the bucket list (not at WineStar):
 
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